Nightmares
by redrachxo
Summary: The Chosen One is suffering from nightmares. Bertrand tries to comfort him. Following on from Smile. Vlerty. Slash. Two-shot. Please R&R. xo
1. Chapter 1

_**I fancied trying something different... self prompted from Smile. **_

_**For HopeCoppice and Starrrz whose brilliance at writing Vlerty has undoubtedly inspired and influenced this. I can't begin to compete with their genius but I hope this is a fair attempt.**_

_**xo**_

**Nightmares**

_The Chosen One had started having nightmares, sometimes Bertrand could hear his voice crying out before he woke up in a cold sweat, no matter how fast Bertrand moved to be at Vlad's coffin side, his protégée wouldn't speak of the terrors that haunted him. That was when he could at least sleep; he knew Vlad often tossed and turned in his coffin, unable to face the dark depths which awaited him should he fall unconscious. (_**Temptation**_)_

Awakening with a gasp, Vlad sat upright in his open coffin. It took him a few moments to calm down, for the images to fade from his eyes and be replaced by the mellow candlelight of his room. A shadowy figure shifted slightly on the sofa. Vlad stared in disbelief as Bertrand leant forward, his brilliantly blue eyes glittering in the dim light.

"Vlad, I think we need to talk."

* * *

Bertrand had endured as much of this as he could take. The Chosen One was fading in front of his very eyes, in the past few weeks large, purplish circles had taken up residence beneath those sapphire eyes, his skin had developed a greyish taint, unhealthy for even a vampire. Not only that but Vlad was losing weight rapidly and there hadn't been much on his frame to begin with. People were beginning to whisper, in the school, on the High Council, amongst the slayers. Miss McCauley had already called Bertrand and the Count into her office to discuss Vlad's welfare on two separate occasions. This could not be allowed to continue. The Count was of the opinion that they should drug him. After all, Renfield was on hand to supply as much sleeping potion as they required and if the boy got at least one night of sleep then maybe he would improve. Bertrand had disagreed. Sending Vlad into an even deeper sleep might only make things worse. No, if something was bothering Vlad, it needed to be talked about.

His protégée, as ever, was proving to be uncooperative. However, Bertrand wasn't willing to be dismissed quite so easily this time. He listened respectfully to Vlad's usual excuses. _'It's nothing.' 'I can't even remember it.' 'Honestly, I'm fine.' 'Really, you can go back to your own coffin now.' 'Why haven't you just bloody well fogged off by now?'_

Bertrand had raised his eyebrows at that one. "Because I care." The words slipped past his lips before he realised what he had said. He was cursing himself for letting his guard slip when Vlad looked up at, his eyes large and dark in the dim light, "You do?"

The vulnerability in the Chosen One's voice was Bertrand's undoing. Oh he knew he was hard on his protégée, he knew he had pushed the boy far too hard in the past, that he did little to praise him but that was just Bertrand's way. It was his duty to prepare Vlad for his destiny. He didn't want to let the boy down. Care? Of course he cared! How could Bertrand ever begin to explain what he truly felt for the younger vampire? Ignoring his own inner turmoil, Bertrand settled for a simple "Yes," as he knelt before Vlad.

Sitting on the edge of his coffin, Vlad stared down at his tutor, his eyes searching for something in Bertrand's face. When he finally spoke, his voice was so low that even Bertrand struggled to hear him. "I dream of blood. And fire. I dream that the world is on the brink of destruction. I hear their screams as we massacre them. I see what I become." Vlad shuddered, his eyes darkening with pain and sorrow. "I can't!" With a cry of anguish, he buried his face in his hands. It didn't matter. Bertrand could still tell that he was crying. 'I'm scared Bertrand.' Vlad lifted his head and gazed down at Bertrand with such pleading in his eyes that it was too much for his tutor to bear. He found himself reaching out to touch his beloved Chosen One. With reverence, he brushed his fingers across the sharpness of Vlad's cheekbone. He was so cold, so unbearably fragile and suddenly none of it mattered. Not the demands of the High Council, or his petty competition with the slayer girl or even his disagreement with Vlad's plans for co-existence. What mattered was that Vlad, _his_ Vlad, was suffering. "It doesn't have to be that way. You said it yourself; you will write your own destiny."

Their eyes locked, vivid azure burning into sapphire with hints of emerald and _something_ shifted in the dynamic between them. Something indefinably important. It made their innocuous positions into something much more suggestive. It made Bertrand's gesture of comfort into something seductive. And Vlad..._his _Vlad, the Chosen One, was looking at him like he had just realised something significant, like Bertrand was important, beautiful even. Vlad tilted forward by just the tiniest fraction and for one brief, shining moment Bertrand thought that he was going to get everything that he had ever dreamt of.

Then the slayer girl crashed, in with her shrill accusations and girlish tears, and the moment, however illusory it may have been, was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thank you very much for the lovely reviews on the first part. Here's the second. With special thanks to HopeCoppice who very kindly let me borrow certain aspects of her Bertrand.  
**_

_**xo  
**_

Vlad wasn't sure when his feelings towards Bertrand began changing or when the line between advisor and friend became blurred. He just knew that gradually, over time, the pain of Bertrand's betrayal had diminished and slowly they had managed to build up a certain level of trust. It hadn't been easy and if Vlad was being entirely honest with himself, he knew that he had deliberately made it difficult. Sometimes, he felt slightly ashamed of how far he pushed Bertrand, of how he had lashed out at the tutor because he wanted to test him, wanted to find out just how deep his loyalty truly ran. All the vicious sneers, the snide remarks, the suspicious accusations, all the times he turned his face away from the hurt in the older vampire's eyes. What Vlad had done would have pushed any vampire to breaking point and yet Bertrand had stayed by Vlad's side. He had knelt willingly before Vlad, he had listened with patience to endless insults, and he never once raised his voice in retaliation. Bertrand was simply there. Steadfast. Devoted. Above all else _loyal_.

Who else would have sat with Vlad for hours when he was recovering from alcohol poisoning? Who else would follow him into danger without a thought for their own safety? Who else would step in front of a stake for him? His former tutor gave Vlad everything that he needed and all before Vlad could even realise what that was. The mere fact that Bertrand was there by his side when he woke up screaming and in need of comfort proved that the older vampire cared.

More than cared. Gazing at Bertrand, his face only half illuminated by the warm glow of candlelight, Vlad felt like he was seeing Bertrand for the first time. Truly seeing him. The beauty of his face, the brilliance of his eyes, the softness of his mouth, the way he moved – all power and grace. The intensity of the emotion barely hidden beneath his calm composure. Vlad finally realised why Erin had been so vindictive towards Bertrand, why she had raged at him for spending time with his former tutor, why she made all those nasty insinuations.

Whatever had existed between him and Erin was broken. The cracks had begun when he found out about her being a slayer. It had hurt like nothing he had never experienced but he had been so much more willing to forgive her betrayal than Bertrand's. Arguably, he had been unfair. Bertrand had only betrayed him once and only after Vlad had pushed him to the absolute brink by refusing to acknowledge the suffering of his own species. Whereas Erin's betrayal had been much more enduring, for months and months she had maintained an elaborate facade of lies and deceit despite him giving her every opportunity to come clean. No matter what happened between them, it couldn't change the fact that she had once wanted him to be dust. All of them to be dust.

It was all Vlad could suddenly think of as Erin raged at him. As she demanded explanations for Bertrand's presence in his room at this time of the night. As her hand struck his cheek. He stared at her with glassy eyes before turning away. He barely acknowledged the stinging sensation spreading across the left side of his face as he moved towards the door. Erin was crying now, tugging at his arm, pleading with him not to leave her and yet all he could see was the look of adoration on Bertrand's face. Whatever he supposed to be feeling right now – sadness, grief, anger, he wasn't feeling it. This spark burning inside him, whatever it was, had nothing to do with Erin and everything to do with Bertrand.

* * *

It wasn't the first time that Bertrand had been shook awake by his protégé. Over the past weeks, Vlad had become a regular visitor to Bertrand's sleeping quarters. Sometimes, the Chosen One had been barely able to stand let alone coherently discuss political strategy. Other times, he would be on an artificial high, having consumed far too many cans of some noxious breather liquid intended to rejuvenate the senses. Each time, Bertrand had calmly cast aside his shroud, ignored his own exhaustion and did what was necessary to soothe his precious Vlad. Whether, it was reading ancient vampire law to him until he fell asleep with his head on Bertrand's shoulder or putting him through endless training exercises until he was utterly exhausted and ready to face his coffin, Bertrand had done it all without complaint. Stakes and garlic, he had even lowered himself to creating some breather delicacy called 'hot chocolate'.

However, it seemed tonight that Vlad wanted something different from him. "Budge up," he said in a friendly, matter of fact voice that indicated it was perfectly normal for him to waltz into Bertrand's private quarters and make himself at home. Without waiting for Bertrand to respond, he lifted up the shroud and began to squeeze in beside the older vampire.

Despite his softly voiced protest of "Vlad!", Bertrand found himself shifting, almost by instinct, to make room for his protégée. He struggled to find the words to admonish Vlad for his behaviour, their current situation was hardly appropriate by any stretch of the imagination, but as Vlad flung his arm around Bertrand's waist and moved closer – no _snuggled _– into his side, the older vampire found that he had temporarily lost the power of speech. Hesitantly, he placed a protective arm around Vlad's shoulders, being careful to keep his touch completely chaste. He gritted his fangs as he stared up at the cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. If the Chosen One needed him to act as some sort of vampiric teddy bear then that was what Bertrand must do. Regardless of the cost to his heart.

"You're always going to be there, aren't you?" Vlad's voice was quiet, thoughtful even, as he lifted his face to gaze up into his former tutor's eyes.

Bertrand's arm automatically tightened around Vlad's shoulders. "Yes." The firmness of his voice surprised him.

Vlad's hand crept up to stroke Bertrand's cheek, the coldness of his fingers sending electric sparks along every nerve ending in Bertrand's body. "Because you love me." His words were barely a whisper against Bertrand's skin.

The older vampire could do nothing but nod in reply. He could barely believe it as Vlad's fingers entangled themselves in his hair, as the Chosen One leant forward to brush his lips oh so softly against his own, at the shockwave of emotions that followed. "Good." Vlad's eyes sparkled in the candlelight, a happy smile began to spread across his lips, "Coz I can be a right pain in the batwing."

Bertrand nodded slowly. "So I've noticed," he replied gruffly. He wrapped his arms more tightly around Vlad and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. "Now, go to sleep."

The nightmares stopped after that.


End file.
